Banchero's 16 points, 14 boards leads No. 7 Duke past BC

BOSTON (AP) — Paolo Banchero scored 16 points and had 14 rebounds and No. 7 Duke pulled away midway into the second half for a 72-61 victory over Boston College on Saturday.

Wendell Moore Jr. added 14 points, Trevor Keels had 13, and AJ Griffin and Mark Williams each had 10 for the Blue Devils (21-4, 11-3 Atlantic Coast Conference).

James Karnik led BC (9-14, 4-9) with 21 points and nine boards, DeMarr Langford finished with 16 points and Makai Ashton-Langford had 10 points and seven rebounds.

With former Duke star Jayson Tatum of the Boston Celtics sitting behind the Blue Devils’ bench, and Celtics president Brad Stevens seated across courtside in a sold-out Conte Forum, the Eagles surprisingly kept it a two-possession game for most of the opening half.

Griffin hit a 3 from the left wing, giving Duke a 33-26 edge late in the half. Williams’ dunk off a feed from Banchero made it 37-28 at the break.

Duke opened its first double-digit lead of the game early in the second half and pushed it to 51-36 when Moore nailed a 3-pointer in front of his team’s bench and Tatum, who also wore 0 in his one season with the Blue Devils.

With BC football coach Jeff Hafley helping cheer on from the student section behind a basket in front of Duke bench, the Eagles had sliced their deficit to seven, but Duke went on an 11-0 spree and opened its lead to 62-44 with just under eight minutes left. Moore also had a 3 during that run.

The Blue Devils pushed their lead over 20 points with just under four minutes left.

The Blue Devils beat BC for the 19th time in their last 21 meetings, with one of the loses coming at Conte on Dec. 9, 2017, when Duke was No. 1.

BIG PICTURE

Duke: Sitting atop the ACC, the Blue Devils are aiming for a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament if they finish the regular season strong.

Boston College: In coach Earl Grant’s first year, the Eagles just don’t have the talent to match up offensively with elite teams like Duke, but they play solid defense — a staple of Grant’s coaching years at College of Charleston — so they seem to keep most games respectable.

CAMERON NORTH

Duke fans, clad in their blue and white, lined most of the lower bowl an hour before tip-off, watching the Blue Devils warm up.

They broke into chants of “Let’s Go, Duke!” when the Blue Devils took charge midway into the second half.

POLL IMPLICATIONS

Despite a last-second loss at home against Virginia on Monday, the Blue Devils should stay near where they are or could move up a spot or two with No. 4 Purdue getting blown out by Michigan this week and sixth-ranked Houston falling to Memphis by double digits.

DOWN ONE

The game was officiated by just two referees because Jerry Heater was out with a non-COVID-19 illness.

UP NEXT

Duke: Host Wake Forest on Tuesday.

Boston College: At Notre Dame on Wednesday.

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